Chitwan. The failure to adjust the prices of medicines produced in Nepal for seventeen years has caused problems in the operation of the industry. It is said that due to the abundance of imported medicines, domestic industries have not been able to get the cost price and some have had to stop production.
According to former president of the Nepal Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, Ginarayan Bahadur Chhetri, the prices of more than 30 types of medicines have been the same for seventeen years.
He said, ‘Even though the prices of the same types of Indian medicines that come to Nepal in the open are higher, there is a compulsion to sell the medicines produced here at a lower price. Cetamol, which is in high demand in the market, is currently sold at Rs. 1 per tablet, while Jeevan Jal should be sold at Rs. 10 per packet. The same problem exists with other products.’
According to him, businessmen are forced to sell these medicines at less than the cost price. Former president Chhetri says that the price of medicines has not increased despite the increase in the price of land required for setting up the industry, the price of raw materials, bank interest, the price of the dollar, the price of packaging, and the remuneration of human resources, etc., during the past 17 years.
Although the price of medicines is adjusted from time to time in neighboring India, he says that the industries here are in crisis because the adjustment has not been made for a long time. Along with this, the industries here have been hit by the open import of medicines from abroad. A few years ago, the government tried to ban the import of 30 types of self-sufficient medicines, but it was not successful.
He said, “How can the industries here survive when more than 10 Nepali industries also import medicines from abroad?” Mahesh Pradhan, president of the Nepal Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, says that the industries here are collapsing due to the inability to adjust the price of medicines for seventeen years, allowing the country’s own industry to import medicines that can be produced in the required quantity from abroad, having to pay customs duties of up to 56 percent on imported materials when establishing an industry, and the lack of government subsidies in any area.
He said that nine of the 83 pharmaceutical industries operating in Nepal have closed. He said, ‘Out of 182 registered with the Department of Drug Management, 83 of them have started production, and those that have started operation are producing only at half capacity.’
Noting that more than 20 more industries are now in crisis, he said that even the industries that were said to be operating well are not in good condition.
He said, ‘We have repeatedly told the Minister of Health, Finance and Industry and stakeholders that the situation in the pharmaceutical industry is complicated.’ He complained that the government has not paid attention to price adjustments in neighboring countries from time to time for years.
Except for some medicines, including vaccines and insulin, all others are produced in Nepal. Manufacturers say that if the import of medicines produced here is stopped from abroad, more than 80 percent of the medicines produced here will be covered by Nepali products.
Currently, the market for domestic medicines is around 50 percent. This is on the decline. He says that since Nepali industries are established according to the standards of the World Health Organization, they can compete with the world market in terms of quality.
When such industries are established, an investment of at least 800 million rupees is made in an industry. Around 70 percent of which is bank loans. Pradhan says that when foreign companies come to Nepal and participate in bidding, the local government also provides subsidies. He said, ‘In other countries, there is support from the state for promoting industry, but not in ours.’
The cheapest medicine in the world is produced in India. Chairman Pradhan complained that despite telling the government that they are ready to produce it at the same price, they have not been heard.
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